US STOCKS-Wall St rises, Nasdaq hits record high on recovery hopes

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* Trump says will leave if Biden wins Electoral College vote
* Volatility dips to levels last seen in February
* U.S. stock market to close early; trading to remain thin
* Indexes up: Dow 0.44%, S&P 0.35%, Nasdaq 0.66%

(Updates to open)
By Shivani Kumaresan
Nov 27 (Reuters) - Wall Street's main indexes rose and the
Nasdaq hit a record high on Friday as optimism around an
economic rebound next year outweighed concerns around an
expected surge in coronavirus infections following the
Thanksgiving holiday.
Sentiment was also lifted by President Donald Trump saying
he will leave the White House if the Electoral College votes for
President-elect Joe Biden, the closest he has come to conceding
the Nov. 3 election, market participants said. "While it was certainly the expectation of the vast majority
of traders that there would be an easy transfer of power, at the
end of the day it gives a little bit of confidence," said Rick
Meckler, a partner at Cherry Lane Investments in New Jersey.
The three main U.S. stock indexes have gained more than 10%
this month as investors were encouraged by signs that COVID-19
vaccines were on track to be rolled out in the weeks ahead,
setting the S&P 500 .SPX for its best November ever.
Although European bourses were subdued by doubts around the
effectiveness of AstraZeneca's AZN.L vaccine, Meckler said it
would not affect the U.S. stock market with traders betting on
candidates being developed by Pfizer Inc PFE.N and Moderna Inc
MRNA.O . .EU
By 9:40 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI was
up 131.92 points, or 0.44%, at 30,004.39, the S&P 500 .SPX was
up 12.86 points, or 0.35%, at 3,642.51, and the Nasdaq Composite
.IXIC was up 79.33 points, or 0.66%, at 12,173.74.
Nine of the 11 major S&P sectors were higher, with only the
real estate .SPLRCR and the utilities .SPLRCU sectors,
commonly considered defensive, trading lower.
A rotation into sectors deemed to benefit from an economic
recovery, such as industrials .SPLRCI and financials .SPSY ,
has also powered the Dow .DJI to record highs and put it on
track for its biggest monthly gain since 1987.
Market volatility, as measured by the CBOE volatility index
.CBOE , slipped to pre-pandemic levels. Trading volumes are
expected to be light as the U.S. stock market closes early on
Friday.
U.S.-listed shares of iQIYI Inc IQ.O fell 2.8% after
Reuters reported Alibaba Group Holding Ltd BABA.N and Tencent (HK:0700)
Holdings Ltd had put on hold talks to buy a controlling stake in
the video streaming service. Next week, investors will get the latest economic snapshot,
including the monthly employment report. Economists polled by
Reuters expect the Dec. 4 jobs report to show unemployment
dipped to 6.8% from 6.9%, but still well above the 4.5% rate in
March, before much of the U.S. economy went into lockdown.
Advancing issues outnumbered decliners 1.58-to-1 on the NYSE
and 2.06-to-1 on the Nasdaq.
The S&P index recorded 17 new 52-week highs and no new low,
while the Nasdaq recorded 75 new highs and four new lows.